Nehemiah:13

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* On that day they read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people , and in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever come into the assembly of God , * because they had not met the children of Israel with bread and water , but hired Balaam against them to curse them . However , our God turned the curse into a blessing . * So it was , when they had heard the Law , that they separated all the mixed multitude from Israel . * Now before this , Eliashib the priest , having authority over the storerooms of the house of our God , was allied with Tobiah . * And he had prepared for him a large room , where previously they had stored the grain offerings , the frankincense , the articles , the tithes of grain , the new wine and oil , which were commanded to be given to the Levites and singers and gatekeepers , and the offerings for the priests . * But during all this I was not in Jerusalem , for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had returned to the king . Then after certain days I obtained leave from the king , * and I came to Jerusalem and discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah , in preparing a room for him in the courts of the house of God . * And it grieved me bitterly ; therefore I threw all the household goods of Tobiah out of the room . * Then I commanded them to cleanse the rooms ; and I brought back into them the articles of the house of God , with the grain offering and the frankincense . * I also realized that the portions for the Levites had not been given them ; for each of the Levites and the singers who did the work had gone back to his field . * So I contended with the rulers , and said , "Why is the house of God forsaken ?" And I gathered them together and set them in their place . * Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain and the new wine and the oil to the storehouse . * And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouse Shelemiah the priest and Zadok the scribe , and of the Levites , Pedaiah ; and next to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur , the son of Mattaniah ; for they were considered faithful , and their task was to distribute to their brethren . * Remember me , O my God , concerning this , and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God , and for its services ! * In those days I saw people in Judah treading wine presses on the Sabbath , and bringing in sheaves , and loading donkeys with wine , grapes , figs , and all kinds of burdens , which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day . And I warned them about the day on which they were selling provisions . * Men of Tyre dwelt there also , who brought in fish and all kinds of goods , and sold them on the Sabbath to the children of Judah , and in Jerusalem . * Then I contended with the nobles of Judah , and said to them , "What evil thing is this that you do , by which you profane the Sabbath day ? * Did not your fathers do thus , and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city ? Yet you bring added wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath ." * So it was , at the gates of Jerusalem , as it began to be dark before the Sabbath , that I commanded the gates to be shut , and charged that they must not be opened till after the Sabbath . Then I posted some of my servants at the gates , so that no burdens would be brought in on the Sabbath day . * Now the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice . * Then I warned them , and said to them , "Why do you spend the night around the wall ? If you do so again , I will lay hands on you !" From that time on they came no more on the Sabbath . * And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves , and that they should go and guard the gates , to sanctify the Sabbath day . Remember me , O my God , concerning this also , and spare me according to the greatness of Your mercy ! * In those days I also saw Jews who had married women of Ashdod , Ammon , and Moab . * And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod , and could not speak the language of Judah , but spoke according to the language of one or the other people . * So I contended with them and cursed them , struck some of them and pulled out their hair , and made them swear by God , saying , "You shall not give your daughters as wives to their sons , nor take their daughters for your sons or yourselves . * Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things ? Yet among many nations there was no king like him , who was beloved of his God ; and God made him king over all Israel . Nevertheless pagan women caused even him to sin . * Should we then hear of your doing all this great evil , transgressing against our God by marrying pagan women ?" * And one of the sons of Joiada , the son of Eliashib the high priest , was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite ; therefore I drove him from me . * Remember them , O my God , because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites . * Thus I cleansed them of everything pagan . I also assigned duties to the priests and the Levites , each to his service , * and to bringing the wood offering and the firstfruits at appointed times . Remember me , O my God , for good !

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